


Tubthumper

by LizardThumb



Category: SSX, SSX Tricky
Genre: Athletes, Gen, Injury Recovery, Olympics, Racing, Snowboarding, Sports, Touring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:47:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24714808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizardThumb/pseuds/LizardThumb
Summary: Zoe Payne is an SSX veteran and one of the faces of the snowboard scene. Now competing in her fifth SSX tour, she may have finally bitten off more than she can chew with her rival, Elise Riggs. Set during 2008's SSX World Tour.
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Saturday January 2008**

The atmosphere was electric in the grandstand at the bottom of the slope. Despite the freezing temperatures & light snowfall, the thousands of dedicated fans were applauding the athletes on stage lined up at the side of the large 3 tier podium.

To the opposite side of the stage a small DJ booth had been set up. A skinny Caucasian man had been providing the soundtrack to this evening's Slopestyle event, he dipped the music down,

'Alright Ladies & Gentlemen.' The loudspeaker amplified his voice through the cold air. 'Please welcome, the Founder & President of SSX, Antony Smiley.'

The DJ turned the music up & from the side of the stage, a young man in his late 20's giddily walked on to the stage, he took a moment to shake the hand of the DJ before standing front and centre in front of the podium.

'Thanks Atomika, & thank each and every one of you for coming out tonight.' Antony took a moment to extend a few claps to the audience. 'This is the 5 th SSX tour & I think this year’s Slopestyle has been one of, if not the best we've seen.'

The crowd gave another wave of approving whooping & hollering. 'Let's get down to brass tax and get some medals awarded.' A woman walked on to the stage with a large tray filled with a dozen shined medals, truly a magpie's wet dream.

‘How you doing?' Antony asked the woman, she gave a smile along with a 'Fine, thank you.'

'In 3 rd place, Maya Nolet!' Antony Gestured a hand to the Athletes across stage, a woman with blue ponytails, was jubilant, she excitedly walked up to Antony who placed the bronze medal around her neck & gave her a firm handshake.

'Well done Maya.' Antony turned to address the crowd, 'She won gold for the Big Air & now bronze, 2 medals on her 2 nd tour.' Maya stepped on the podium, she took it all in, looking out to the crowd, then closer at the bronze, ‘SSX World Tour 2008, Slopestyle’, she was grinning from ear to ear.

'And the silver medal for the Slopestyle goes to Zoe Payne!' Zoe stepped up. Her red highlighted black hair had been disheveled from the event and had made no effort to make it look right. She gave a wave raising her cropped leather jacket showing off the heart tattoo on her stomach, she got a cat call from the crowd, so switched the wave to a middle finger.

'Of course another gold winner, this time from the SuperPipe event.' Antony put the medal around her neck. 'How many is that total for you now?'

Zoe shrugged, 'Who's counting anymore?' She hopped on to the podium and gave a handshake to Maya before taking her place.

'Your fans for sure.' The Crowd gave their approval to Antony's blatant pandering. 'As you know Zoe has been with us since the first SSX tour back in 01, and speaking of people who have been with us since day 1, the winner of the SSX World Tour Slopestyle event, Elise Riggs!'

The blonde bombshell elegantly made her way to Antony. The crowd piped up again, despite Elise's indifference towards them. Antony had to get on his tippy toes but managed to get the medal on Elise just fine, he'd gotten used to it after all these years.

'First of the tour Elise, congrats, you have anything to say to the folks here and at home?' Antony leaned the mic to her.

'Not much, just keep that last gold warm for me tomorrow, and keep them warm for me in Aspen.' Elise looked towards the crowd before making her way to the podium, she gave a handshake to Maya, but didn't extend the gesture to Zoe.

'Elise, remember when we said not to mention other events?' Antony turned to the crowd. 'These guys never listen, but make some noise for all the athletes who have put on one heck of a show.' The crowd rose once again,this time a standing ovation. '& we'll see you tomorrow night for the final Race & final event of the SSX World Tour. Take it away Atomika.'

Atomika turned up the music as they waved and made their way off stage to the back. Zoe hopped off the podium & joined the rest of the riders. 

Back stage was nothing fancy, just a small annex on the scaffold of the stage area with a technical area, couple of benches & a cooler filled with light beers.

Antony waved his arms to the riders. 'Don't forget your event participation medals before you go!'

'Heya Zoe, beer?' Offered Skye Simms, the Red headed newbie from Australia.

'Sure thing.' Zoe took a big swig, before letting out a tiny burp.

'Can I get one?' Griff Simmons asked, despite it being his third tour & earning the respect of most, he was hard to take seriously as he was still going through the gangly part of his teenage years.

'Buzz off kid' Zoe spat at him, Griff trudged away.

'That's mean, you didn't drink when you were 15?' Skye looks at Griff as if he were a puppy that had been scolded.

'I did, but I had to steal it.' Zoe took a swing. 'If he wants to he can do the same.'

'How you feeling about tomorrow?' Skye asked, the race event was the most draining of SSX, 10 races, most points wins. Tomorrow was the final race on the Last Call course, the longest and most challenging race on the tour.

'I came over with Moby & had a practice on it, at the end of April, but they hadn't finished it yet.' Smiley had invited them over once he found out they were in a nearby resort for some late season practice. 'It's going to be a rough one, but it'll be fun.'

'Glad I'm not in contention then.' Skye's face said it all, she was worried. 'Just the proper veterans that are in the running. It's a shame Moby's missing it.'

'That moron, spraining his ankle a week before the season starts.' She shook her head. 'And Maya's in contention too. If I don't win the whole thing, my money's on her.' Zoe finished her drink. 'Thanks for the drink, I'll see you at practice.'

Zoe slung on her back pack, grabbed her board & made her way through the backstage area, into the cold. Making her way to the sky tram station, she zipped up her coat, during events she opted for a cropped jacket, but when she wasn't on her board or hopped up on adrenaline, the big coat & beanie came out. It also helps when keeping a low profile. She wiped off what war paint hadn't sweated off before she got to the station.

-

Back at her hotel, she started running the bath, before putting her gear away. The room was nice, nothing fancy, but what was to be expected from a chain hotel. The riders figured this was a cost cutting measure from Antony, before they were told that Wyatt Hotels were now an official SSX sponsor. She grabbed a beer from the mini fridge & flicked on her M Com before getting into the bath.

'This is Atomika here, hell of a show at the Slopestyle finals tonight, I won't spoil anything here, but put it bluntly. Wow.' Zoe slipped under the waterline briefly to get her hair 'cleaned'.

'If you didn't catch the live broadcast on Eurosport, highlights will be broadcast on your local affiliate network at 11pm local time and a full replay tomorrow morning. Check SSX.com for more information.' The music kicked in. 'And speaking of red hot action, here's red hot from Jurassic 5.'

Zoe closed her eyes and leaned back. She still felt sore. This was her fifth SSX tour and ninth year on the pro snowboard circuit, her debut event, the FIS American tour at Northstar, Tahoe in 99, she placed 10 th out of 14. It was a decent start for a first event, and she kept going, before being scouted for the first SSX tour in '01.

In the 9 years she'd picked up a myriad of scrapes. On the board, it was easy to forget, but in these moments alone, the limitations of her body came back to her. Her knees hurt, her ankle was swollen, her eye felt funny.

A few minutes later, an alert went off on her M Com. She dried her hand & checked her inbox. 1 new message from Moby,

_ 'gr8 job m8! gd luck 4 2moz' _

She smiled, before texting back.

_ Ty! xoxo _

She rinsed herself off and patted herself dry before hopping into the double bed. She tried to sleep for a while, but despite the bath, she still felt sore. She threw on the complimentary bathrobe with flip flops & went out onto the balcony to cool off.

The night was crisp, definitely at least 15 below freezing Zoe reckoned. The cold creeped up on her as she looked out across the town, it was so peaceful compared to when the events were on. The cold was helping her aches, but once she had become at least three quarters goosebumps she headed back in and crashed back into bed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sunday 16th January 2008**

Zoe woke up at around nine, and didn't feel great, she flicked on her M Comm & went to the bathroom,

'Atomicka here. So, the stage is set and the Die has been cast, for the Final day of the SSX World Tour & we have a winner take all situation in the race event.'

'In the final race in the series of 8, the only riders in a position to win the whole thing are Mac Fraser, Zoe Payne, Elise Riggs & Maya Nolet.

Zoe opened the door slightly to hear the M Comm better,

'Now you might need to get a pencil for this, the favourite Zoe Payne needs to finish ahead of Elise to win gold, but Elise Riggs needs to finish 3 places ahead of Zoe, and any position ahead of Maya for gold.'

'Maya Nolet needs to be first or second, with Elise & Zoe below fifth place. But get this, Mac Fraser needs to place first, have Zoe & Elise finish in the bottom 2, and have Maya finish below third place to win gold.  
One thing is for sure, they need all the luck they can get & Mac might need a miracle, but stranger things have happened in SSX history.

'Y'know, I always get a little sad on the last day of these tours, so let's get things pumping and since most of you are running to the hills to watch the race this afternoon, here's Iron Maiden.'

'Yeah Atomica!' Zoe complimented with a mouth full of toothbrush. She wrapped it up in the bathroom & started a routine of burpees to the absolute banger.

She threw on some sweats and a tee before heading downstairs for breakfast. She hit the lobby, a dozen or so press members who were loitering, copped her right away.

'Jeez, can I get a coffee first?' Zoe made her way quickly to the dining area where she was saved by the hotel manager, aggressively reminding them that the cafeteria was for hotel guests only.

'Hi Zoe!' Kaori waved over, on her the table was Mac & his cousin Marty. They both gave her a wave but nowhere near as enthusiastic as Kaori.

Zoe waved back, grabbed a coffee, fruit bowl & sat down with them, not before giving Kaori a hug.

'Hey champ.' Mac gave her a nod.

'Damn right.' She laughed, before blowing her coffee. 'I didn't realise how screwed you were until I heard on the radio.'

'You definitely have a better chance than me.' Mac admitted.

'The odds might not be in your favour Cous.' Marty assured him. 'But at least you're in it.'

'Why did you not enter this year?' Zoe asked him out of genuine curiosity.

'Not ready yet.' Marty pointed at his shoulder, 'had a tumble and after a scan, turned out I needed to get my shoulder fixed. I can board indoors with it, but competitively, out of the question.'

'But you'll be ready for next time.' Mac assured him.

Marty nodded. 'Might even go to one of those off season events down under, get a bit of practice.'

'Navado is so good!' Koari chimed in. 'But air is super thin, you need to get used to it.'

They caught up, it had been a while since Zoe had seen Marty & shooting it with the happy couple was always a delight. As they left, Zoe went up to the breakfast bar & ordered a smoothie to take back to her room.

'Morning guys, coffee's kicked in now, what's happening?' In the lobby, she stopped to speak to the waiting press, they were calling out to her. 'You with the green hat, where you from?'

'Whitelines magazine.'

'Go ahead.'

'Bit of a disappointment last night with the silver, hasn't shaken you has it?'

'Shaken? No, but I was disappointed, but after today I'm heading home with 2 golds & a silver, which I'm stoked about.'

'No doubts about that?'

'None whatsover.' She pointed at another press. 'You.'

'Fifth tour in a row, you getting sick of SSX yet?'

'Hell no! This is the only tour where we have full contact. Don't get me wrong, I like other tours a lot, but this is the only one where we can really cut loose.

'You last one, make it count.'

'Any words for Riggs?'

'Thanks for keeping the top of the podium warm for me, but I'm coming home.' She glared straight down the barrel of the one guy with the video camera. 'Now get out of my way.'

She walked right through the crowd of press to the lift and back to her room.

-

A few hours later at the mountain top, Zoe was at the starting gate, practising her start. The course practice wasn't eventful, aside from a few extra jumps & a lot more branding, it was mostly the same as it was back when she and Moby were here at the end of last season.

After a few runs from the gate, she headed to the back stage area under the spectator's stand, which had been slowly filling up, she gave them a wave before she went behind the heavy curtain.

She placed her board on a rack in the corridor, it was under constant supervision to avoid tampering,not that that was an issue, there was rivalries but none that would warrant board tampering.

She grabbed her ipod from her backpack & went to look for somewhere quiet.

'I do get where you're coming from but it's not going to be an issue until the next tour.' Antony Smiley was speaking into a press member's dicta-phone in the corridor. He spotted Zoe. 'See here, Zoe!'

'Hey what's up Ant?' She joined in the informal interview.

'What do you think of moving the next tour to the end of the season in April?' Antony asked her.

Zoe looks confused. 'Are we doing that?'

'Might be, not sure yet.' Antony shrugged. 'What do you think?'

'I wouldn't be against it, we'll be saving the best for last!' Zoe was enthused.

Antony laughed. 'I might do it, just for that tagline.'

'Thanks for talking, Mr Smiley.' The man turned off the recorder. 'Miss Payne.' He made his way out of the corridor.

'You OK?' Antony asked.

'Yeah, is there somewhere quiet I can get in the zone?'

'Use my office, I'm not.' He pointed at the door across the way.

In the office, Zoe put on the iPod and ran through the course in her head, over and over again. The race was long, the record was 16 minutes, though it wasn't a marathon, it definitely wasn't a sprint.

She heard the door open, Skye Simms hesitated, 'Oh sorry Zoe, Antony said it wasn't being used.'

'Not for office stuff.' Zoe got up from the chair and headed to the couch. 'If you don't mind me having a nap on the couch.'

Syke laughed. 'Not at all. I'll kick you awake before the race.'

'Right on.' Zoe put a single headphone in and played thumping techno. Sky sat on the chair, relaxing playing her DS.


	3. Chapter 3

The 8 riders were in the starting blocks, closest to the crowd was Elise and Zoe. Pleasantries & even friendships blossomed on the SSX tour, but they hadn't said a word to each other.

They had been on every SSX tour so far, and even though it started friendly, but during the Tricky tour, it had soured into an intense rivalry. That year Elise got the better of her, 2 years later at Big Mountain, it was Zoe's time to shine, during the Blur tour, Elise just got ahead of Zoe in the medal standing.

'Saw you on the TV this morning, you know.' Elise was casually leaning on the side of the block, arms folded facing Zoe. 'If you want to be intimidating, you might want to change out of your gross sweatpants.'

'Ha! You think I'm getting dressed to talk smack to your sorry butt.' Zoe scoffed at the blonde. 'Fat chance blondie.'

Elise got into position on the block.

Zoe smiled under her breath. 'Hope your performance is better today than you did in that movie of yours'

Elise, slammed her fist on the block, before grabbing Zoe by the collar. 'Alright you little punk bitch.'

'Hey!' Mac grabbed Elise's arms to stop her from doing what she wanted to do. 'Save it for the race, both of you.'

'I'm going to beat the crap out of you Payne.' Elise let go, Zoe was taken aback by her grip but was still grinning ear to ear.

'OK Riders, the boss has arrived at the finish.' The event organiser shouted to the riders, she was wrapped up warm with a high vis vest over the top & a clipboard to boot. 'We'll do the intros from the far side for the cameras then it'll be a minute before the start. Any questions or issues?' The riders either shook their heads or remained silent. 'Great!'

Zoe looked down the slope ahead of her, she knew the course in her head, now she just needed to make it happen, only with the blonde powder keg she'd just lit staring daggers right next to her.

On her other side, Maya who was looking nervous. The big screen opposite the stand was now showing the live feed and a huge aerial shot of the start complex.

'SSX Welcomes you to the Last Call race event.' The loud speaker boomed over the high altitude wind. The crowd gave a huge pop. 'This is the final race in the series of 8. Please welcome your competitors.'

The camera crew of three made their way to the far side of the starting blocks, camera, light & boom mic all facing the riders directly.

'Allegra Sauvagess.' She pumped her fist, 'Let's do this!'

'Griff Simmons.' He gestured to riders in contention for the gold. 'Their just keeping it warm for the new king.'

'Koari Nishidake.' She looked at the camera, 'Mac, you going doooown.' but could not keep a straight face & ended it with a giggle.

'Skye Simms.' She pointed upwards & gave a wink to the camera. 'Sky's the limit.'

'Mac Fraiser.' He grinned & put his hands together. 'Praying for a miracle here big guy.'

'Maya Nolet' She was unmoved, she just remained looking down at the slope ahead.

'Elise Riggs.' She gave an elegant wave to the crowd, the pop was noticeable.

'Zoe Payne.' She threw her arms up to pump up the crowd and they went for it. 'That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!'

'Riders on your marks.' All the riders took their positions in the blocks, except Maya, who'd been on her mark for what she thought was ages now.

The 3 pips went off & the gates opened, Zoe shot out, but ducked back from an immediate swing from Elise, which cost her a little time.

She crouched to pick up speed, before hitting the first jump, nothing fancy at the moment, just a mute grab, she had to catch up to the front of the pack.

As she overtook Kaori, on the inside of a turn, she was surprised at Zoe not being at the front. That changed quickly as she took a tight inside line to use a rail to skip a big air ramp. She banked around Maya to take 2 nd behind Elise. They went into a small straight of bumpy track that led to a small jump, again, Zoe just went for a basic grab and landed first.

She heard a rider land close behind her, she glanced back to see Elise. The distraction costs her some speed, they were level and facing each other at the top of the slope. Another landing, this time Maya, in her view just behind Elise, whose fists were balled again. She took a swing at Zoe who ducked face first into Elise's rising knee. Zoe heard a dull thud and loud crack at the same time, she started slumping backwards before hitting the ramp at an angle.

Maya went for a front side method, it was a safe move for keeping position. Elise didn't have time to wind up a big move, but still managed a 360. Zoe got some big air, but had strayed way off course. She sailed hip first into the top of a pine tree, before pin wheeling into the hard ground of a rocky clearing, just out of bounds of the track.

Zoe was looking sideways at a patch of trees, every breath was laboured. Tried to move her arm but all she felt was a stabbing pain, she looked down to see two pieces of bone out of her leg, it might not have been bone, her vision was mostly a blur. She tried to move but could only slump from her side to her back facing the sky.

'She's over here!' A medic called behind her, before making her way over to Zoe. 'Hey can you hear me?' She opened her kit bag and took out a pair of latex gloves. 'Zoe? Can you hear me?'

She clicked her fingers in front of her face. 'Zoe?!'

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic & hoping to do a small chapter a week. If you like reading a massive bulk of completed work, see you in a year or so. Critiques welcome.


End file.
